What is Ethanol Fuel?
Wikipedia:
Ethanol
Ethanol
1. systematic chemical name for ethyl alcohol
2. An alternative fuel derived from corn, grains or agricultural waste or chemically extracted from ethylene.
Raise your hand if you don't really understand what ethanol is or where it comes from. Ok, no worries.
Let's start at the beginning. First of all, ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. Ethanol fuel has a "gasoline gallon equivalency" value of 1.4 US gallons which means 1.5 gallons of ethanol produce the energy of one gallon of gasoline. A gallon of E85, a common blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, contains about 71 percent as much energy as a gallon of unblended gasoline. So drivers can expect about 15 percent less fuel economy than they would with conventional gasoline.
Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% of ethanol and ethanol represented 10% of the U.S. gasoline fuel supply derived from domestic sources in 2011.
Bioethanol is a form of quasi-renewable energy that is produced from common crops such as corn, sugar cane, potato, and manioc. E10 (also called "gasohol") is a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline sold in many parts of the country. E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15 percent gasoline can be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) which are specially designed to run on gasoline, E85, or any mixture of the two. FFVs are offered by several vehicle manufacturers.
There has been considerable debate about how useful bioethanol will be in replacing gasoline. Concerns about its production and use relate to increased food prices due to large amounts or arable land required for crops, as well as the energy and pollution balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production, especially from corn. Recent development of cellulosic ethanol production and commercialization are thought to possibly these concerns.
Cost: Cost of ethanol varies regionally. It is cheaper than gasoline in some ares, such as the Midwest, and more expensive in others.
Availabilty: More than two thousand filling stations in the U.S. sell E85, and that number is increasing rapidly.
Performance: No noticeable difference in vehicle performance when E85 is used.
MPG: FFVs operating on E85 usually experience a 25-30 percent drop in miles per gallon.
I feel it is important to understand what ethanol is before you can subjectively debate it's pros and cons.
For more information visit the websights below.
http://http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/ethanol-http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/10/biofuels/biofuels-text
Let's start at the beginning. First of all, ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. Ethanol fuel has a "gasoline gallon equivalency" value of 1.4 US gallons which means 1.5 gallons of ethanol produce the energy of one gallon of gasoline. A gallon of E85, a common blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, contains about 71 percent as much energy as a gallon of unblended gasoline. So drivers can expect about 15 percent less fuel economy than they would with conventional gasoline.
Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% of ethanol and ethanol represented 10% of the U.S. gasoline fuel supply derived from domestic sources in 2011.
Bioethanol is a form of quasi-renewable energy that is produced from common crops such as corn, sugar cane, potato, and manioc. E10 (also called "gasohol") is a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline sold in many parts of the country. E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15 percent gasoline can be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) which are specially designed to run on gasoline, E85, or any mixture of the two. FFVs are offered by several vehicle manufacturers.
There has been considerable debate about how useful bioethanol will be in replacing gasoline. Concerns about its production and use relate to increased food prices due to large amounts or arable land required for crops, as well as the energy and pollution balance of the whole cycle of ethanol production, especially from corn. Recent development of cellulosic ethanol production and commercialization are thought to possibly these concerns.
Cost: Cost of ethanol varies regionally. It is cheaper than gasoline in some ares, such as the Midwest, and more expensive in others.
Availabilty: More than two thousand filling stations in the U.S. sell E85, and that number is increasing rapidly.
Performance: No noticeable difference in vehicle performance when E85 is used.
MPG: FFVs operating on E85 usually experience a 25-30 percent drop in miles per gallon.
I feel it is important to understand what ethanol is before you can subjectively debate it's pros and cons.
For more information visit the websights below.
http://http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/alternative-fuels/ethanol-http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/10/biofuels/biofuels-text
